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For those unaware of the country rock singer songwriter, Julianna Riloino, you may have heard her voice as part of Daniel Romano’s The Outfit. But since 2022, she has been releasing fantastic solo music. She just released a deluxe version of her sophomore album, Echo in the Dust, and is currently finishing her Canada East Coast tour in support of it. Echo In The Dust builds on the alt-country elements of All Blue. On top of that, she started her own record label, Moonwhistle Records, late last year. We spoke with Julianna Riolino about the new deluxe version of Echo in the Dust while she was in her home studio on her farm in Ontario.
PAN M 360: So you live on a farm? That must be great for inspiration as an artist?
Julianna Riolino: It is. I think that so much of my life, when I’m on the road, surrounded by people and having to be social. Having a place to relax and be, you know, quiet for a bit, is really nice in order to recharge. It used to be a fully functional farm back when, my cousins, who have had this place since the ’60s, were much younger. I like to grow my own vegetables and monopolize as much of the warm weather as I can by not having to go to the grocery store. So yeah, I dabble in growing a garden, but if a horticulturalist saw it, they’d be like what the heck is going on?
PAN M 360: Cool. Let’s get into your music. So what brought on this idea to release a deluxe version of Echo in the Dust?
Julianna Riolino: So, when we were recording the album, we were able to record 14 songs, but the problem that I faced was that 14 songs on the physical album would have changed the demand for the physical record. So it would have had to have been like a double LP, which is a much harder sell. It’s also way more expensive, too. So I had to make the hard decision of cutting three of them. The hope was to have them be an EP or something. But then the album was released in October. I just felt like it was too sad to separate all of them. There’s a thread I think that binds all of those all of 14 songs together. Thematically, they go, and I tend to like once a record is recorded, I’m on to the next thing.
PAN M360: So basically, you needed to get them out there, but you didn’t want them to be separate from the album.
Julianna Riolino: Yeah, exactly. They needed to be bound together.
PAN M360: I suppose because you have your own label now, you can just do that too? You’re the decision maker. Was that the reason you started the label?
Julianna Riolino: I think so. I think I don’t like being told what to do. Which is maybe a character flaw or maybe it’s a good thing? I want to be fluid and have the freedom to make these decisions when I want to and release music when I want to release it. So that’s definitely a bonus. I have a lot more freedom, and I don’t have to, you know, wait.
PAN M 360: I love one of the newer songs, “Don’t Put Me in the Middle.” What spurred that one on?
Julianna Riolino: I think I look at songs as more like encapsulating feelings. So I think that like, it’s being in situations with people or in relationships with people where they’re dysfunctional, or you’re trying your best and nothing’s really good enough, and you have to decide to leave. So I mean, you can look at it as like my farewell to something that is no longer serving me, and it’s kind of identifying all of those different things, as you know, I gave it everything I could. It’s kind of me writing a letter to whatever fill-in-the-blank situation or person, and saying I tried my best, and you know, it’s all love and great, but I have to move on.
PAN M 360: That thread of moving on is definitely on this album, thematically.
Julianna Riolino: Yeah. I think that this is like another window into that. Like, I look at “Smile” as unpacking a lot of stuff and still being like really tethered to it. And then “Don’t Put Me In The Middle,” I always kind of compare it to—and I know this is like an insane thing to say because this is like an iconic song—but it’s like my version of “I will always love you,” by Dolly Parton. You know, she wrote this song for Porter Wagoner because she wanted to leave the show and move on to her own things. Like that was kind of what I had in my head, that motivated and propelled the song forward.
PAN M 360: Your first album, All Blue, is much more country, but Echo in the Dust really moves through different genres. Did you know you wanted this early on?
Julianna Riolino: There’s obviously the country nuances to all of my songs. Like people said All Blue was country, and I think yeah, “Queen of Spades” is a country song. But, like for more or less, it’s always just little little trickles of it. I think that Echo in the Dust is a lot more rocking than All Blue, and I think maybe some of the listeners were missing a bit more of that, like Americana.
PAN M 360: I wanted to ask you about glass staining. How did you get into that, and do you still do it?
Julianna Riolino: I went to school for Architectural restoration, and I went to a small, little, it’s like a trade college in Niagara on the Lake, which is really close to where I live. I ended up picking it up again during the pandemic. Stained glass is like the term that everyone can easily identify, but it’s more leaded glass because I’m not actually painting on the glass. Staining, that’s a whole other like scientific … that’s what you see in like churches, though, is stained glass. You’ll see leaded glass windows at churches, too, depending on how many of those windows at churches are sponsored by families. All of those windows are supposed to be like memorials for people who have passed away. So I don’t do that because of time. I did a restoration project this past fall. And I’ll do more when I have time. Last year was crazy. I think I got home from like a festival and then immediately went into this restoration project, and then I was back on tour again. So, I’m taking a break, but I think I’ll be back at it when I have a window of time, after the tour, maybe.
